The Five Treasures of Inpei Kaguya

I set down my cell phone on my desk, only for it to vibrate again, and another number to light up on the cracked screen. Great, just great. Wait, this was the number for the convenience store in town… Had it been robbed again? I picked it up, but what I heard completely threw me off. And I thought today was going to be hard enough already… On the other end of the line was Kiseki Shikishi, my little sister’s best friend. Worst of all, she told me the worst possible thing that she could have. Her necklace was stolen. Now, this isn’t an ordinary jewellery robbery. In fact, Shikishi didn’t usually wear jewellery. It’s not like it was a ¥50,000 necklace she could have bought at a supermarket and had 8 more of at home in a box. No, it was the necklace that my sister Kaguya had given her when they were children. A family heirloom. And, with the misfortune of being part of the Inpei family, it was my family’s heirloom. “I’ll do what I can, Kiseki-chan, but I’m in the middle of a very important case…” I hated to disappoint her, but I had to be honest. If there was any day in which I was working on a case more important than that necklace being stolen, it was today. “But if it’s for the necklace, I can try.” Obviously I can’t give up. If a detective is investigating a murder, and another one is happening right in front of him, he’ll do something to stop it! Of course, neither of these cases were murder, but perhaps they were worse… “Can I get a description of the thief?” She gave me a response, but unfortunately, every hooligan that runs about the streets of this accursed city wears the same shabby outfit and has the same ridiculous haircut. Whatever. I’ll think of some way to find the necklace later. Assuming that doesn’t work. (Unbeknownst to Kaguya and Shikishi, I had hidden a GPS tracker on the necklace. I had a feeling something like this would happen eventually. Still, it won’t be easy to recover.) “Sorry, boss. Looks like I’m on another case, too.” “I guess that’s the tough part about hiring a freelancer. Though, this is the first time I’ve heard of you getting a job from someone other than me.” The police chief seemed shocked. He didn’t know that I got other jobs, because I made a point of not telling him. Being a private investigator can involve… crossing some legal lines at times. So, I preferred Chief Kaitou to think I was a failure, rather than have him know how successful I was at avoiding his men. I took out a wrinkly notepad from my desk and scribbled down a note about the necklace’s theft in one of the many handwriting styles I had practised-- a useful skill for someone like me-- and then I went back to researching the underground gang of smuggler college students we were investigating.

I was in my usual less-than-ergonomic posture. I stayed in that position, hunched over the police department’s computer, searching all of the reputable and less-than-reputable sources I could think of to gain any information on the Mondai Group, as they called themselves. That’s when the most shocking thing of all happened. Chief Kaitou walked up to me and told me to go home. “You’re off the case,” he said. What? How? Why? Before I could ask any of those questions verbally, he pointed at the door. “Go work on that other case you said you had. I’ll handle the rest of this.” Great. Just great. Of course, sometimes the chief got in trouble for hiring a local freelance detective to do work for him, mainly because he used the department budget. But this was an important case, and I had the feeling I was just about to get to the bottom of it. I was a well-renowned sleuth, second in deductive ability only to my dear little sister Kaguya. I packed my tattered backpack, and headed for the door. Chief Kaitou gave me another strange glance, before I unchained my bike and started towards the Inpei manor. Kaguya was going to have some sort of fancy dinner party tonight, for reasons I wasn’t going to attempt to comprehend, and at least this would let me get a head start on preparing meals for our guests. One of those guests was Kiseki Shikishi, meaning I’d be able to talk to her in person about the stolen necklace. Hopefully this won’t take too long… It seems like every time one of Kaguya’s friends gets in trouble, it becomes some major incident. I don’t know if anything would be worse than what happened to Shakai Hachiko, though. Speaking of Hachiko, she’ll be at the dinner party too. It’ll be nice to catch up with her. I haven’t seen her since the whole thing happened with the seventy-four live salmon. That was probably the most dangerous and stressful incident I've ever been involved in; I understand why she doesn't like to talk about it.

I arrived home in the mid afternoon, and threw a couple of bags of rice into our rice cooker. Frankly, I had no idea what I was going to make, but I knew it’d be using rice. While waiting for the rice to cook, I decided to begin tracking the GPS locator inside of Shikishi’s necklace. The movements it recorded were… strange. The culprit was still in town, running back and forth frantically between different… supermarkets? A sidewalk jewellery thief spending all day visiting supermarkets. Now I’d seen everything. Well, seeing the necklace go back and forth between grocery stores had inspired me. I’d use the groceries I bought last week to make a stir fry. I had just turned on the stove and poured oil in the pan when Kaguya arrived home, and Hachiko was there with her. I gave them a wave, and then they began to set the table. Not long afterwards there was a loud clap outside the door, and Kaguya opened it… And there stood the unfortunate victim of necklace-thievery, Kiseki Shikishi! The next people to arrive were Rokou Makoto, a notorious man in the area whom Kaguya had been spending a concerning amount of time with; and Kaitou Umi, who was Chief Kaitou’s daughter. They sat down first, causing everyone else to quickly follow, until Kaguya announced that the dinner party had begun and sat down herself.

“Welcome, everyone! I hope you’re prepared for my wonderful dinner party! Many thanks to my brother Honnoh for preparing all of the food!” Embarrassed, I reacted to the complement. “I do what I can. Let me know if you need me to make more.” Shikishi was the first one to eat, and she stuffed her face with so much of my stir fry that you’d think she hadn’t eaten in days. “It’s delicious!” was the response in between swallows. “Thank you very much for having us,” said Makoto, in an uncharacteristically polite manner. Kaitou Umi, who was sitting next to him, gave him a glare. “Yes; I’m sure it will be wonderful!” remarked Hachiko, “What gave you the idea for a dinner party, anyway, Kaguya? I’ve been wondering.” “I’d like to know, too,” added the chief’s daughter. “You’re not usually into social events.” “Well, you know,” my sister grinned slyly, “I just thought it’d be fun.” “That’s really not like you at all…” Even Shikishi could tell. Makoto spoke next, trying to lighten the tension: “You only get dinner with me if it’s somewhere close to the case you’re investigating!” Umi glared at Kaguya (in a way that must run in the family, as her dad has given me that glare at work many times), and cut to the heart of the matter. “You always have hidden motives behind everything you do. I don’t expect this party to be any different.” My sister, seemingly unaffected by the glare, giggled and conceded, “Well, you’ve caught me. Figuring out what this party is about is the point of the party.” I figured it was about time to say something myself, so I cut in, “You’ve always been strange, Kaguya. I suppose it’s your mystery novel obsession. Everyone being invited to this large mansion for a dinner party with an unclear purpose… It’s supposed to be like Christie, isn’t it?” “Well now, nii-san, I’m not going to confirm that.” Apart from Shikishi, everyone seemed pretty satisfied with the mystery novel explanation. We all had looks on our faces that screamed “that is something Kaguya would do…” I was then caught off guard by a question from Umi. “So, Inpei-kun, how’s work? Dad hardly tells me anything about it.” “Well, he’s been acting strange today. Sent me home right after I got a lead on the Mondai Group.” I could feel the atmosphere at the table change as I mentioned the Mondai Group. Makoto looked at Umi, Umi seemed to freeze in place, and Kaguya’s grin seemed to grow into a vast smirk. “Strange,” added Umi after a pause, “I didn’t know the police were interested in the Mondai Group. Aren’t they just a gang of street thugs?” “That’s what I thought, too,” I had to confess. “But Kaguya told me to look into them more. Oh well. I’ve spent most of today focused on finding Shikishi’s necklace. At least, until I had to begin preparing dinner…” “By the way,” asked Shikishi, bringing her hand over her chest where the necklace usually was, “Have you had any luck finding it?” “Well, I have my ways of tracking it.” More like one way, but might as well make the girl feel a bit better. “I expect I’ll find it in the next few days.” After that, I could have sworn I saw Makoto glance at Shikishi’s chest. Maybe he was jealous that Kaguya had never given him any jewellery. “Don’t worry,” I further assured Shikishi, “It’s a priceless Inpei artefact. I’m just as invested in recovering it as you are.” The grinning Kaguya finally spoke once more, “You’ll find it. You are the great detective Inpei Honnoh, after all.”

Shikishi was shifting nervously, and still fidgeting with the empty spot on her chest. “I hope it wasn’t someone from the… What did you call them? Gang of street thugs?” “The Mondai Group,” I clarified. “A bunch of notorious gangsters. Though, they might be even more than that.” “Scary…” Shikishi looked terrified. “I don’t want to get caught up in an international necklace-smuggling ring.” She sure had an active imagination. I decided to change the subject. “Kaguya, Hachiko, how’s work going for the two of you?” “It’s going well!” Hachiko smiled, “Kaguya only has two months of training left.” “What’s your job, anyway, Kaguya?” asked Makoto. Some boyfriend. “Yeah, you’ve told me before,” admitted Shikishi, “...but I don’t remember.” Seriously, my sister’s taste in friends is… Questionable. “Well,” said Kaguya, “I think Hachiko would do a better job explaining.” As cryptic as Kaguya can be, I think I’d rather hear an explanation of something from even Shikishi than from her. Luckily, Hachiko took the question. “Well, it’s pretty simple. I think the official job title is ‘remote therapist’. Most of what you’re doing is therapy and remote counselling via chat clients. And sometimes it gets really stressful… But I got my degree because I wanted to help people! And I hope I am… Kaguya’s supposed to be studying under me to get her licence, but… frankly, she does a better job than I do. Hey, Kaguya. You’ve never told me. Why did you want to be a therapist anyway?” “Well, it’s pretty simple,” Kaguya said, imitating Hachiko. “After solving so many mysteries and encountering so many criminals, I just felt sorry for them. So, I decided to do everything I could to help them. In fact, a few people I’ve helped were even a part of the Mondai Group. …My job is a major source of information on the MG. I do have some personal motives, after all!” Kaguya giggled. “Granted, our clients have anonymity and other privileges, so I can’t know who they are… But I have my ways. Please don’t tell your dad about that, Kaitou-chan.” She winked at Umi. “That sounds like a crime for someone higher up than the city police,” retorted Umi in a rather deadpan voice. “So does that Mondai Group, though,” suggested Shikishi, “but it sounded like Chief Kaitou was pretty interested in them.” Kaguya’s face lit up. She was in her element now. “Maybe, but it depends on how deep it goes. The Mondai Group is mostly known for acting around this area, but if some of my suspicions turn out to be true, even INTERPOL could get involved.” Umi let out a slight snicker, and addressed Kaguya’s theories. “Really? What makes you think that? International smuggling? Weapons, even?” “There’s no direct evidence of that.” Kaguya dodged the question. “From what my sources can tell, the few weapons we have been able to associate with the MG have been purchased domestically. Of course, it’s still illegal, but the ones getting charged with smuggling would be the dealers.” Now it was Makoto whose eyes seemed to light up. “Really? There’s a black market for smuggled weapons here in town? Now that sounds interesting.” “I bet you’d love to know about it,” Kaguya grinned. “Boys…” “Can’t say I’d blame him.” I hated it, but I was defending the kid. “I wouldn’t mind checking it out myself. My pistol could use an upgrade.” “Don’t you practically work for the police?” Umi reminded me, “I don’t think buying smuggled pistols on the black market would be good for your image. It’s a miracle you’re allowed to keep the gun you have.” “Good point,” I had to admit, “But hey, maybe it’d scare the Mondai Group off from getting on my tail.” At the time, I had no idea how absolutely wrong I was about that. Kaguya seemed to have an idea, though. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, nii-san.”

“Well, I’m full!” informed Shikishi. And if she was full, you know we were. “The food was wonderful,” complimented Hachiko, making me smile. “I’m looking forward to a wonderful evening.” “Me too,” added Makoto, “Though I think I’m going to take a walk to clear my head.” “Of course,” Kaguya stood and smiled, “Have fun, everyone. I’ll set up a game to entertain you all in the dining room in a bit. For now, enjoy each other’s company.” “Thank you. A walk to clear my head is just what I need,” remarked Umi, transparently giving an excuse to follow and subsequently keep an eye on Makoto. Everyone stood up, and I turned to Shikishi. “Come with me,” I whispered, “And I’ll show you what I know about the necklace.”

I took her upstairs, into my office. It was dark, so I lit the candles I usually used to read books, and pulled out an old laptop. I had found it used in an electronics store, and it happened to have a GPS card, so I was able to repurpose it for tracking the necklace. The battery for the GPS module in the necklace was solar powered, so it would charge just by being worn. Quite brilliant, if I do say so myself.

The program for tracking the necklace loaded, but it did not show what I was expecting. The screen showed the location of the necklace as somewhere within the house. “Huh. Maybe the laptop is tracking itself by mistake?” I muttered something to myself and decided the best course of action was just to restart the laptop. Unfortunately, even after I restarted it, it showed the exact same thing.

“That’s odd.” “What’s going on,” asked Shikishi, curious about the whole ordeal. “It’s software for tracking the necklace. It should be showing me where it’s at.” “And what is it showing?” “Well, somehow… It’s showing the necklace inside of the house.” “Huh? That? But, well, I…” “No need to worry. If it is inside the house, it couldn’t hurt to check. I’ll help you look for it.” I also had a couple things I wanted to ask Kaguya. I headed out to look for the necklace, and Shikishi did the same. When I did find Kaguya, she was still in the middle of a conversation with Umi. I checked a couple of other rooms in the house, but I couldn’t find anything. When I walked back past the dining room, Shikishi was still there searching for the necklace, but looked like she wasn’t having any luck either.

I headed into the kitchen to sit down and go over my notes from earlier in the day about the Mondai group. Like Kaguya had said at dinner, they seemed to be smugglers, but all of their weapons that the police confiscated were traced back to domestic sellers. What they actually seemed to be smuggling was drugs. The drugs were brought from other countries into Okinawa, and then rich, high-ranking Mondai Group members used private boats and planes to go back and forth from Okinawa to the mainland. Of course, with the upcoming summer break, it was the perfect time for a bunch of college students to travel back and forth between Okinawa and the mainland without suspicion. That’s why this matter was awfully urgent. I suspect Kaguya’s dinner party has something to do with it. Kaitou Umi goes to a university where we’ve observed significant MG activity, and the school Shakai Hachiko graduated from was no different.

I decided Makoto’s idea of taking a walk to clear his mind was pretty good, so I headed out myself. We had a large koi pond in our garden, and I loved watching and feeding the fish. When I did go outside, however, I wasn’t exactly relaxed. Makoto and Umi seemed to be arguing about something, and scaring away all the fish. I presume it had something to do with Kaguya. I get the impression Umi wasn’t a big fan of their relationship, and frankly, I wasn’t either. I don’t know if I should feel sorrier for my sister or for that poor kid.

Speaking of my sister, as I headed back through the sitting room into the kitchen, I ran into her. “Kaguya! Perfect! I have some interesting news for you.” “Oh boy! Let’s hear it. It’s been a pretty interesting night so far already.” “Well, it’s about the necklace. It’s somewhere inside of the house.” “I see… That gives me a pretty good idea of who stole it, then.” “So you’re not surprised by it being here?” “Of course not. You wouldn’t be, either, if you had paid attention at dinner.” My little sister was always so cryptic. Well, at this stage, it’s just basic deductive reasoning. “You mean that Makoto kid, right? He does seem like a petty thief. And I saw him arguing with Kaitou-chan about something, so it tracks.” “Is that so? Very interesting information, nii-san! Thank you very much!” “Why do you--” before I could even ask my question, Kaguya went back upstairs. I decided to go on into the dining room, and I ran into Makoto frantically searching the place.

I thought he might be searching for the necklace, but that theory went out the window when he seemed glad to see me. “Inpei-kun! Where do you keep the fish food? They looked hungry, so I was looking around for some, but all I could find was your stir fry. Which was really tasty!” “Oh, thanks! Here, let me get it for you..” I showed him the cabinet where we kept the fish food, and handed him a container. Before I could try to question him about the necklace, he went back outside, and Shikishi started berating him about something. Deciding it would be better to stay out of it, I went back upstairs to update my own file on Makoto as a Mondai Group member to include the necklace theft. And, for good measure, the fish food incident.

After I had finished writing a substantial update in my notes about Makoto, I headed back downstairs, only to see him still arguing with Shikishi. It seemed like it had something to do with the necklace, but he kept denying that he stole it. After a while, she gave up on arguing with him, and headed back into the dining room, leaving Makoto alone. I walked up to him, and he went back to feeding the fish. “Oh, hey, Inpei-kun. Thanks again for the fish food. I can tell they’re really enjoying it.” “No problem. Can I ask you about something?” “Sure thing. Though, it’s getting awfully cold and windy out here, being so late. Let me finish feeding the fish, and I’ll head inside with you.” As much as I wanted to ask him about the necklace, if the incident with Shikishi proved anything, it was that I wasn’t going to get anything by confronting him directly. I could at least try to get a little information from her about the argument, so I went back into the dining room and sat down next to Shikishi.

Hachiko and Umi were there too, meaning the only one not accounted for was Kaguya. Maybe she had gone to get something to set up the party game. “Where’s Kaguya,” I asked everyone, “Did she get something to prepare for the party’s entertainment?” “Who knows, with that girl,” dismissed Umi. “Speaking of, where’s Makoto? Off getting into trouble again?” “He’s been out at the koi pond all night,” replied Shikishi. I guess she didn’t know about the fish food incident. “Yeah, I haven’t seen him inside much,” confirmed Hachiko. “No surprise there,” responded Umi, “He’s no people person, for sure. I guess we’ll just let him be while we wait for Kaguya.”

And right on cue, my sister stepped into the room. “Hey everybody! I’m back, and ready for party games! …Oh? Looks like someone’s missing.” “Yes,” I answered her, “Makoto is having a rough night. We decided to let him be by himself for a little bit.” Kaguya retorted swiftly. “That won’t do! We need everyone! I think he was out at the koi pond, right? Let’s all go get him.”

We followed Kaguya’s suggestion, cramming ourselves through the dining room door and out into the garden. Makoto was nowhere to be found, or so we thought. Hachiko had marched to the corner of the bridge over the pond, and screamed as soon as she leaned over the railing. I rushed up next to her, and realised why. There was a corpse in the pond-- it was Makoto’s, and Shikishi’s necklace was floating right next to him.